Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Samantha dies in a car crash after a party. But wait.......why does she wake up in her bed, only to relive the entire Friday over? Sam has to do this SEVEN times before there is any resolution!!! Does it sound like Groundhog Day? Way more emotional............Read it and think about your choices!!

Do you like science fiction? Did you watch the TV show "V"? If you did, you will like Pod. The story begins with a screeching, screaming noise that wakes up the world As people investigate and look outdoors they see immense, pod-like, spinning disks descending from the sky. Walking outdoors ensures a quick death -- you are immediately "zapped" and disappear. Is it the end of the world? You'll have to read the book to find out!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

The first line got me: "The night Savannah brains her stepfather with the frying pan is the night she decides to leave home for good."

Savannah's stepdad is abusive, not only to her, but to her younger brother Henry. Mom is oblivious to everything.....so "Sav" decides to hit the road. Much of Savannah's childhood (she is now 17) was spent riding cross-country with her single mom, Alice. Alice could never seem to make a home for them ....obviously she is a bit dysfunctional.

I picked out this book because I liked the retro look of the cover. I know I always say....don't judge a book by the cover. The "feel" of the book is old, the copyright is new!

Monday, November 01, 2010

Sophie is 16 years old. After using her powers in a "prom night spell gone bad".... she is sent to Hectate Hall. It is a "boarding school" for prodigium teens. What are prodigium? Witches, warlocks, vampires, shape-shifters, fairies, etc...... who have used their powers incorrectly. Hopefully Sophie will now find the correct way to channel her powers.

After her arrival a student is maliciously attacked and left for dead. Sophie's vampire roommate is blamed. Who is responsible? What about the very handsome warlock that Sophie crushes on? Read the book and find out. It will leave you waiting for the next one.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I only meant to read this book for a short time last night. I got home late from conferences and needed something to put me to sleep. (The Viking game wasn't doing it!) I ended up staying up late, too late, to finish this book.

Laine is a victim. Leah is a victim. Leah is dead. That about sums up the book!

Laine has always wanted to be a part of the popular crowd. When Leah, the most popular girl in the school, wants to be her friend, Laine is ecstatic! But popularity comes at a price. When Leah is at Laine's house she wants to go in the closet with her and "practice". Laine is very conflicted in her emotions. She wants Leah's friendship, but she feels wrong. She tries to end the friendship and there are disastrous results. Laine tries to help Leah, but it is as though she doesn't want help. There are risky behaviors and lessons learned. I couldn't put it down.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

I read another graphic novel! This time it was Welcome to the Jungle from Jim Butcher's Dreseden Files. I'm really liking this genre!!

Harry Dresden is a wizard "on-call" with the Chicago Police Department. He is brought into a case involving the death of a security guard at Lincoln Park Zoo. The guard was viciously killed -- perhaps by a gorilla? No one appears to know. Harry suspects there is some bad magic at work. He finds himself working against not one, but three hags.

Read the novel, see what you think! There are more titles by Jim Butcher in our collection. Have you outgrown Harry Potter? Try these.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Finally.....I read a graphic novel. Last night I read In the Small by Michael Hague. I've really been liking the "dystopia genre".... and this book fit the bill.

On a beautiful September day a strange blue light swept over the earth. It went everywhere --- inside buildings, to the bottom of the ocean and inside subway tunnels. It only lasted a second -- then life returned to normal - almost. The only life form that changed were humans. Humans are now about 6 inches tall --- approximately the size of a pencil! Think of all the dangers that present themselves when you are that small. Pets - cats and dogs - think you are food, how would you navigate the stairs in an office building, how would you push the button for an elevator?

Somehow "Mouse" and "Beat" short for Beatrice become two of the leaders in the chaos that ensues. Read the book and see if you like it as much as I did.....I'm waiting for a sequel.

Monday, October 04, 2010

The FBI has finally caught up with Maya's dad. He's pulled one scam too many ..... and is now in prison. Maya is in foster care, but has no intention of staying there.Aunt Sarah lives in Idaho - at least that is what Maya thinks. The problem is .... she is in Nevada. How to get there? Maya and another girl in foster care run away. She have only the clothes on their backs and a few dollars in their pockets. Life on the streets is hard -- hitchhiking, shoplifting to try and get food, rats...... Read the story and see if they get to Idaho and find the elusive Aunt Sarah.

April and Wil are roommates at "Fat Camp". That is about the only thing they have in common. April has saved and saved to afford the expensive tuition at Wellness Canyon. She desperately wants to lose weight. Wil, on the other hand, does not want to be at camp. Her thin, successful and beautiful parents are owners of Excalibur Sport and Health Club. When your parents are owners of a string of work-out facilities, the last thing in the world you should be is overweight. Well....guess what? Wil is. Wil is also determined to "show" her parents that she is in-charge. Wil is actually trying to gain weight!!

There are lots of clashes between the two girls.....yet as you read the story you will see that they have more in common than you think.

This book is best described as a psychological thriller! It was made into the 2010 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.The setting is Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The hospital is located on an island. It is 1954. Teddy and Chuck, U.S. Marshals, are summoned to the island to locate a missing patient. Rachel, the missing patient, has been convicted of a horrible crime --- killing her three small children.The book has one plot twist after another. A hurricane throws havoc into the scene. Teddy discovers that unorthodox brain surgery is taking place on patients. He has been drugged through the food he has been eating and the cigarettes he has been smoking. His partner, Chuck, disappears.What is real? What is not? I'm still wondering..........I finished this book over the weekend, yet it still sticks with me. Next I need to rent the movie and see what director, Martin Scorsese did with the screenplay.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Willow is a cutter. She cuts herself to cope with the pain and guilt of .... as she puts it...."killing her parents." Willow was driving her parents home from a restaurant on a rainy night. She only had her temps and her parents had too much to drink. There was a horrible accident. It was just that, an accident. But in the blink of an eye everything changed.

Willow now lives with her brother, sister-in-law and her baby niece. How do they cope? How does Willow continue to live with the pain? Read the book and find out.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Furnace Penitentiary is a prison located miles underground. Only the worst offenders are sent there. Fourteen-year-old Alex is framed for murder and sent there for life!!!

The prison is ruled by gangs, the guards are sadistic, furless deformed dogs are unleashed to attack the inmates....but the worst is the "middle of the night" raids when the "wheezers" come. Wheezers are human-like creatures with a gas mask stitched onto their faces. Wheezers mark cells with a red "X". After that the "black suits" come to take you away.....forever. Are you a fan of horror? If so, you'll like this book.

Alex discovers there might be a way out. Will his plan work? Will he be able to escape the black suits? The sequel Solitary comes out December 21. Hopefully that will answer some of the questions.

Eagan is a 16 year old competitive figure skater from Milwaukee. Amelia is 14 and dying of congestive heart failure. After a freak accident where Eagan dies, Amelia receives her heart. Eagan had checked the small box on her new driver's license that listed her as an organ donor. Amelia has no idea whose heart she has received, yet she starts to take on some of Eagan's personality. The story is heart-breaking --- two girls, two families --- and one heart.

Monday, May 10, 2010

This is Susan Beth Pfeffer's third book about the meteor hitting the earth. Alex and Miranda, characters from the previous books, are brought together in this companion novel.

Earth has still not recovered. The struggle for enough food is a daily occurrence. Scavenging for essential supplies like toothpaste and toilet paper is constant. Everything is gray -- the result of volcanic ash in the air. It is a desperate time.

Miranda's dad, stepmother and new baby brother arrive. There are even more challenges as the families try to house and feed more people. The book closes with yet another disaster. I won't give it away.....but I wonder whether there will be another book? There almost has to be.....

Do you like to read true stories about people? How about trying this new memoir......

Marvelyn Brown was 19 years old when she found out she had been infected with the HIV virus. She is a "straight", for the most part "non-promiscuous", young woman from Nashville, Tennessee. She was athletic, just graduated from high school, and had met the man she thought was "the love of her life." He is the one who passed on the HIV virus to her.

Marvelyn could have given up....and for a while she seriously thought about it. After an article about her appeared in The Tennessean, her life changed. She was offered a job working for Nashville CARES, an organization devoted to helping people living with HIV and AIDS. This was a stepping-stone to national coverage of her story. You have to read Marvelyn's inspirational story....and learn from it!

Thursday, May 06, 2010

This was the eagerly anticipated companion to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I just finished it.....and it left things totally unresolved:( Gabry is the main character. Her mother is Mary --- the main character that escapes in the first book. The action continues. The world is still populated by the "Unconsecrated" or as they are also know, "Mudo".

I will now have to wait until Spring 2011 for The Dark and Hollow Places. I don't think I can wait! Click here for Carrie's blog.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Can you believe we have three new books titled, Breathless? The one I read over break is by Jessica Warman. I found it interesting that the events in this story parallel her life. She first wrote it when she was just out of high school

The main character is a girl named Katie. She has just been sent to a fancy boarding school. While she doesn't mean to.....she implies that the reason she is there is because her brother died. Her brother, Will, is alive, but not well. He has schizophrenia. It has caused him to be extremely violent toward himself and others. The story looks at the effect of a serious illness on the entire family.

Katie is an expert swimmer. The only time she honestly feels like herself is when she is in the water. But.....even that changes. ............. Read the book!

Mary lives in a village in the middle of a forest, that is completely fenced in. Guardians patrol the perimeter of the fence line to make sure that the fences are in good repair. Outside the fences the moaning of the Unconsecrated fills the air. The Unconsecrated are described as wearing "tattered clothes, having sagging skin and fingers scraped raw from pulling at the metal fences. " They are "zombie-like" creatures.

The fenceline of Mary's village is breached. The villagers do all they can to try and escape the Unconsecrated. It is a horrific battle for survival. Mary along with several others escape down a path. What happens? Do they escape? Will Mary find the ocean that her mother insisted is "out there"? You've got to read this horror/romance!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Ellen Hopkins writes many hard-hitting books. This one is no exception. Did it appall me? Yes...it did. To think that young women deal with abuse like Kaeleigh and Raeanne do, is just sad. Read the book -- thank goodness it is fiction!

Monday, March 08, 2010

This was a great book by David Klass! Jeff's brother Troy has been released early from prison. His parents are ectastic that Troy is home -- but Jeff feels as though his life is ruined. He doesn't want his friends to know about his brother, but inevitably the "secret" is out. His girlfriend breaks up with him. Life definitely changes.

Jeff can't accept Troy back into the family. When a popular, star athlete disappears.....a person who Troy had a skirmish with.....all fingers point to Troy. When the car he disappeared in is found - with traces of blood - Troy has to submit to DNA testing. Is he responsible? You'll have to read this thriller to find out!

Did you know you can review a book in Destiny? Look up this title in the catalog to see what I mean!

Monday, February 08, 2010

I finished two books over the weekend. Often I'll only read a small part of a book (don't tell) so that I can booktalk it. These two I had to finish!!

Destroy All Cars by Blake Nelson. James is the 17 year-old main character. The book is full of his rants against consumerism. The title of his first persuasive essay for AP English is "Destroy All Cars." In typical James fashion he tells us that cars are the evil of the world. If we don't destroy them, they will destroy us. This book is funny!!! My husband loved the rants. In fact, one of his favorite phrases is one that James shares, "useless crap". Used as in......"I understand that it is the nature of Consumer Americans to constantly drive to different stories so they can buy endless amounts of useless crap."

My other favorite is If the Witness Lied by Caroline Cooney. Cooney is a favorite author from my middle school days. I really enjoyed this book. The intrigue at the beginning is what grabbed me. What could have happened to Jack's family that is worse than the "most horrible soap opera?" I know that Jack's parents died. Jack is 15 years old. He lives with an aunt and a 3 year-old brother. Both his sisters live with other families. Why? Why is a reality show interested in Jack's family. Read the book and find out!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Not even the start of the Viking-Saints game could get me to put down this new book by G. Neri!

The setting of the book is California. Logan is a surfer, as are all his friends. He's graduated from high school and needs a way to make some money for college. He and his best buddy, Z-boy (no one calls him by his real name, Zane) get hooked up with a drug dealer. Broza needs someone to drive a car full of drugs from Southern California to Orlando, Florida. There is good money involved, but the two have to work together as a team. They don't even reach the state line before the trouble begins. Read the book --- it will DEFINITELY keep your interest!

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Kyra has 20 brothers and sisters, 3 mothers and 1 father. Yikes.....What kind of family does she have? Kyra and her extended family are part of a polygamist cult.

Kyra lives in an isolated community in the desert. You have to read this book to really understand how the people, under the direction of "The Prophet" try to make this lifestyle work. It isn't until The Prophet decides that Kyra is to marry her 60-year-old uncle, her father's brother, that Kyra decides enough is enough. She ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT want to marry her uncle.....but in the society she lives in, that is what is expected.

Intriguing title!!! Andy is starting his sophomore year. He is seriously overweight. The kind of overweight where he questions whether he will fit into a desk!! Despite his weight, he is a typical teenager. Over the summer at one of his mother's catering events (her profession does not help his weight problem!), he met a girl....a girl he really wants to impress. As the school year begins, April shows up in his AP History class -- she is a transfer student. Now Andy has to make good on all the things he told her!! He told her he was a jock, so..........he joins the football team!! Be aware -- all 307 lbs of Andy has never been on a football field.

The story is told from Andy's point of view. His voice and his humor are very believable. Read the book and see what happens when Andy becomes the starting center.